Patient privacy policy

Everyone working for the NHS is subject to the Common Law Duty of Confidence. Information provided in confidence will only be used for the purposes advised with consent given by the patient, unless there are other circumstances covered by the law. Heartbeat CIC complies with the NHS Confidentiality Code of Conduct. All our staff are required to protect your information, inform you of how your information will be used and allow you to decide if and how your information can be shared.

We hold information in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the General Data Protection Act. We maintain our duty of confidentiality to you at all times. We will only ever use or pass on information about you if others involved in your care have a genuine need for it. We will not disclose your information to any third party without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances (i.e. life or death situations), or where the law requires information to be passed on.

We primarily use information to enable our clinicians to better treat you and provide your healthcare. However, we also use your information to improve our services by:

• Reviewing the care we provide through clinical audit
• Investigating patient queries, complaints and legal claims
• Ensuring we receive payment for the care you receive
• Preparing statistics on NHS performance
• Auditing NHS accounts and services
• Undertaking health research and development (with your consent – you may choose whether or not to be involved)
• Training and educating healthcare professionals.

We share your personal information with other NHS organisations. For example, we may share your information for healthcare purposes with NHS trusts, General Practitioners and Ambulance Services where they are directly involved in your care. We may need to share information from your health records with other non-NHS organisations, including Social Services. However, we will not disclose any health information to third parties without your explicit consent to do so, unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as when the health and safety of others is at risk or where the law requires it.

We may also be asked by other statutory bodies to share basic information about you, such as your name and address, but not sensitive information from your health records. This would normally be to assist them to carry out their statutory duties. In these circumstances, where it is not practical to obtain your explicit consent, we are informing you through this notice, which is referred to as a Fair Processing Notice, under the Data Protection Act that we may share that data.

These non-NHS organisations may include, but are not restricted to:

• Social Services
• Education services
• Local authorities
• Police
• Voluntary sector providers
• Private sector providers

Sharing of information is, again, dependent upon which of our services you have accessed and this notice therefore breaks that information down by service over subsequent pages. However there are some common areas which apply to all our services.

Invoice validation is an important process. It involves using your NHS number to check that the Primary Care Network (PCN) is responsible for paying for your treatment. We can also use your NHS number to check whether your care has been funded through specialist commissioning, which NHS England will pay for. The process makes sure that the organisations providing your care are paid correctly.

The legal basis to use information for invoice validation is provided under Regulations made under section 251 of the NHS Act 2006 and is based on the advice of the Health Research Authority’s Confidentiality and Advisory Group (reference CAG 7-07(a) and (b)/2013).

We are required by law to protect the public funds we administer. Heartbeat CIC may share information provided to it with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds, in order to prevent and detect fraud.

Information may be used for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service provided. Some of this information may be held centrally and used for statistical purposes e.g. the National Diabetes Audit. Where we do this we take strict measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified.

Sometimes your information may be requested to be used for research purposes. Heartbeat CIC will always gain your consent before releasing the information for this purpose.

The use of data by the Cabinet Office for data matching is carried out with statutory authority under Part 6 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014. It does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Data matching by the Cabinet Office is subject to a Code of Practice. You can view further information on the Cabinet Office’s legal powers and the reasons why it matches particular information.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-data-matching-practice-for-nationalfraud-initiative

To ensure that adult and children’s safeguarding matters are managed appropriately, access to identifiable information will be shared in some limited circumstances where it is legally required for the safety of the individuals concerned.

We will approach the management of patient records in line with the Records Management NHS Code of Practice for Health and Social Care. This sets the required standards for managing records for those who work within or under contract to NHS organisations in England, based on current legal requirements and professional best practice. Any specific details of data retention by service are detailed in subsequent pages.

Under the General Data Protection Regulation everybody has the right to see, or have a copy of data we hold that can identify you, with some exceptions. You do not need to give a reason to see your data. If you want to access your data you must make the request in writing. Under special circumstances, some information may be withheld. If you wish to have a copy of the information we hold about you, please contact us in writing at:

Subject Access Requests
Heartbeat CIC
Suite 30
County Business Park
Darlington Road
Northallerton
DL6 2NQ

Our Data Privacy Impact Assessments are available upon request.  If you would like to have access please email hnyicb-ny.heartbeat.admin@nhs.net detailing which system you wish to see the detail for.

Your right to withdraw consent for us to share your personal information

At any time you have the right to refuse/withdraw consent to information sharing. The possible consequences will be fully explained to you and could include delays in receiving care. If you wish to discuss this, please contact either the reception at the service you are accessing or by emailing hnyicb-ny.heartbeat.admin@nhs.net detailing which services you currently access and the best way for us to contact you to discuss the consent withdrawal.

Mobile Telephone Number

If you provide us with your mobile phone number we may use this to send you reminders about your appointments or other health screening information. Please let us know if you do not wish to receive reminders on your mobile.

The General Data Protection Regulation requires organisations to register a notification with the Information Commissioner to describe the purposes for which they process personal and sensitive information. We are registered as a data controller and our registration can be viewed online in the public register at: http://ico.org.uk/what_we_cover/register_of_data_controllers
Any changes to this notice will be published on our website and in a prominent area at the Practice.

Our registration number is: ZA926078

If you have concerns or are unhappy about any of our services, or should you wish to pass on compliments please contact us using the details below:

Complaints
Heartbeat CIC
Suite 30
County Business Park
Darlington Road
Northallerton
DL6 2NQ

Phone: 01609 751649

Email: hnyicb-ny.heartbeat.admin@nhs.net

For independent advice about data protection, privacy and data-sharing issues, you can contact:

The Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
0303 123 1113     www.ico.gov.uk

Heartbeat CIC operates the Better Access Service across Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby, which operate as follows:

North Hambleton

Weekday evenings – 6:30pm-8pm

• Monday Great Ayton Surgery (Great Ayton)
• Tuesday Mowbray House Surgery (Northallerton)
• Wednesday The Health Centre (Stokesley)
• Thursday The Friarage (Northallerton)
• Friday The Friarage (Northallerton)

Saturday

• The Friarage (Northallerton) 9am-5pm
• Great Ayton Surgery (Great Ayton) 1st saturday of every month 9am-1pm

Sunday – 9am-1pm

• Sunday The Friarage (Northallerton)

South Hambleton

Weekday evenings – 6:30pm-8pm

• Monday Lambert Medical Centre (Thirsk)
• Tuesday Glebe House Surgery (Bedale)
• Wednesday The Doctors Surgery (Thirsk)
• Thursday Rotating alternate weeks: Lambert Medical Centre (Thirsk), Thirsk Health Centre and Glebe House Surgery (Bedale)
• Friday The Friarage (Northallerton)

Saturday – 9am-5pm

• Saturday The Friarage (Northallerton)

Sunday – 9am-1pm

• Sunday The Friarage (Northallerton)

Richmondshire

Weekday evenings – 6:30pm-8pm

• Monday Doctors Lane Surgery (Aldborough St John)
• Tuesday Quakers Lane Surgery (Richmond)
• Wednesday Harewood Medical Practice (Catterick Garrison)
• Thursday Harewood Medical Practice (Catterick Garrison)
• Friday Central Dales Practice (Aysgarth)

Saturday – 9am-5pm

• Harewood Medical Practice (Catterick Garrison)
• Central Dales Practice (Aysgarth) 1 in 4 saturdays per month

Sunday – 9am-1pm

• Harewood Medical Practice (Catterick Garrison)

Whitby

Better Access clinics are delivered at Whitby Community Hospital as follows:

Weekday evenings – 6:30pm-8pm

Saturdays – 9am-5pm

The information we access

You will be referred to our Better Access services from either your GP practice, The Friarage Hospital, Whitby Community Hospital or from 111. We will ask your consent to view your GP medical record when you present for your appointment and prior to accessing your record. Providing you give consent, we will then be able to see your full GP record or, where you are registered outside of Hambleton, Richmondshire or Whitby, we will be able to view your Summary Care Record.

The information we hold

We will not retain access to your GP record after discharging you from our better Access service, but we will be able to see entries that we have made during the consultation. We will retain access to these episodes of care for the purpose of clinical audit and service improvement. These records help to provide you and others with the best possible healthcare.

• Your age, contact details and next of kin
• Details of your appointments within the satellite hubs
• Records about your health, illness, treatment and care from consultations within the satellite hubs
• Results of investigations, like laboratory tests, x-rays, etc. made or received by the satellite hubs
• Information provided directly to us from other health professionals including your GP and 111 when making a referral to us.

Discharge to your registered GP

Unless you decline consent, we will share information from any consultations in the Better Access service with your registered GP practice.

Referral for investigation / Two Week Wait Referrals

With your consent, we will pass information on to Secondary Care where we deem it appropriate to refer you for further investigation. Whilst we will not make routine referrals, with your consent, we will make urgent Two Week Wait referrals during consultation if deemed appropriate.

Data Retention

Access to your GP records will be stopped when you are discharged from the Better Access service (same day) but we will retain access to entries we have made during your consultation and approach the management of patient records in line with the Records Management NHS Code of Practice for Health and Social Care which sets the required standards of practice in the management of records for those who work within or under contract to NHS organisations in England, based on current legal requirements and professional best practice.

Further information about the way in which the NHS uses personal information and your rights in that respect can be found here:

The NHS Care Record Guarantee

The NHS Care Record Guarantee for England sets out the rules that govern how patient information is used in the NHS, what control the patient can have over this, the rights individuals have to request copies of their data and how data is protected under the Data Protection Act 1998.

The NHS Constitution

The NHS Constitution establishes the principles and values of the NHS in England. It sets out the rights patients, the public and staff are entitled to. These rights cover how patients access health services, the quality of care you’ll receive, the treatments and programmes available to you, confidentiality, information and your right to complain if things go wrong.

NHS Digital

NHS Digital collects health information from the records health and social care providers keep about the care and treatment they give, to promote health or support improvements in the delivery of care services in England.